Education under emergency rule

According to the 2006 National Population and Housing Census,

3,614,729 children aged 5-19 (children of primary and secondary school

age) live in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states. Given the population

increase from 140 million to today's 160 million, the number of

children in the region will have likely increased as well. This also

means that it is likely that a larger number of children in the

North-Eastern Nigeria are at risk of being deprived of their right to

education.

We should also consider the political implication of the deprivation

of the right to education for policy makers. From a political

perspective, the current government is least likely to win votes from

parents in this region, especially those who view the absence of

education as a result of the current crisis, a limitation of their

children's opportunities. What this represents for a government vying

for presidential or other power is a loss of 6,056,664 or more

votes.This constitutes the people aged 20-85+ in the three states. In

a country where a two-third majority is required to win an electoral

seat, the prospects winning an election in this region, willbe slim.

What can be done? I do not in any way endorse Boko Haram's campaign

ofterror. The government's attempt to quash insurgency is well

understood. However, it is strongly recommended that conscious and

deliberate attempts to ensure that the civilians are protected and

that human rights and the rule of law is respected in every sphere of

social and economic livelihood must be paramount.

Radical transparency anda deep commitment to nurturing social life is

needed. The Government of Nigeria and the military forces must

reinvent their strategies to take alead in reconstructing development

structures that have been destroyed in the region. This is an approach

that is successfully being applied in other terror-prone regions like

Iraq and Afghanistan. The situation in the North-East is not much

different from these other areas. People need to see proactive efforts

to build their lives and structures; they need to be assured that the

government is interested in supporting development there, rather than

what is now viewed as a personal vendetta against the states or even

against Muslims.

Secondly, it is important to measure the extent of decrease or

increase in enrolment and attendance in schools. The Federal Ministry

of Education needs to work with the state education ministries,

consultants and non-governmental organisations to undertake consistent

research in order to deepen their understanding of the various

barriers to accessing education in each state. This is critical as the

data will inform accurate planning for the supply- and demand-side

efforts for closing education gaps where they occur.

Finally, the Federal Government can also use this situation as an

opportunity to re-establish its commitment to the people of the

North-East and to national unity. These commitments can only be made

by demonstration not words. Implementation of policy commitments to

deepen education in the region must commence immediately and speedily

as a matter of priority. These will act as guarantees of government

support and will raise barriers against terror on the long and short

terms. Without careful and deliberate intervention to protect the

structures of development, then it is likely that education gains and

not terrorism will be quickly dismantled in the region